Bella Perpetuar
Eternal War. This is the situation in the land where the three Chaoslords' seat of power lies, and they have been trying to expand that seat of power since before the mortals found how to write. The Land Bella Perpetuar is a land wrought by power, a sort of nexus to the divine and mystical way of the Creators. Control of Bella Perpetuar is the surest way to control all of Ardalore, and this is well known by the forces of Chaos. Therefore, the might of the three Chaoslords empowers a land that covers the southern half of the region, making for a large area filled with all sorts of evil creatures under the command of their brutal masters. Opposed to this, northern Bella Perpetuar is a realm of honour and glory, populated by knights and warriors united in their common goal of liberating the land from the Chaoslords' fell influence. Collectively, they call themselves the Metal Kingdoms and while fiercely independent from one another, they are all equal in their hate towards the Chaoslords. The Realm of the Chaoslords The Dark Cathedral of the Three Chaoslords There are three Chaoslords: Dargoth, Dargol and Dargon who are also known as the first, second and third respectively. The two latter officially have their domains elsewhere, however their true power center lies at the Dark Cathedral, out from which their essences seep to create a mighty avatar that watches over the landscape at all times. It is also at the Cathedral the dark art Entropimancy, or Chaos Magic is taught to whomever pledges his allegiance to the dark Creators. A dangerous school of magic, intended to rip the very bonds of reality with its risky incantations. The Mountain of Dargoth's Horrors The forces of the Chaoslords use great, monstrous beasts as shock troops in their wars against especially the armies of the Metal Kingdoms and Calmar. This fearsome menagerie of monsters is primarily bred through brutal methods in the darkness of the mountain. Inside the mountain, the beasts vie in a desperate struggle for survival, and only the strongest and most debased of creatures exit the innards of the immense rock, and by then only to be captured and sent thrashing toward the foe. The Orcish Hollows While horrid monsters comprise the shock troops of the Chaoslords, the backbone of Dargoth's armies is made of Orcs. Pale and just short of the height of a human, though much broader, the Orcs live a primitive life in and around a great mountain, split into tribes whose internal battles for dominance only cease at the call of arms from Dargoth. By then, they gather under the Entropimancers and other commanders schooled in the Dark Cathedral, and surge towards the civilized lands of Calmar, or support the undead hordes battling the Metal Kingdoms up north. The origin of Orcs is usually connected with the Morg'naar to the east, although Orcs are much less intelligent and, while inherently militaristic, do not ceínceive new technologies which is why they rely on Dargoth's arms for any weapon made of other than bone or rocks. The exception to this is the few Orcs born intelligent. None know exactly how, but 'smart Orcs', when they do appear, swiftly rise in Orc society because they are no weaker than their kin physically, and they are often taken by Dargoth to be trained as commanders over their dull brethren. Some defect, though, seeing the chaos as an inherently evil thing and instead taking refuge in the nobler societies surrounding the Realm of the Chaoslords. Mordmusta, the Dark City Once a bustling trade hub and capital of a Metal Kingdom, now a sooted industrial center and the powerhouse of Dargoth's forces. Every day, numberless forges churn out the iron equipment for the Orcs in the south, and one of the Mortsteel refineries supplies masterworked equipment for the elite Legionnaires, the human soldiers of the Chaoslords' armies. All this goes on in the shadow of the Black Mountain. No scholar has written anything down about that dread place, but most agree that it is made from pure entropic energy, seeing as the mountain was literally pulled up from the ground during the invasion of the Metal Kingdom that once was. Humans live there, all of them having surrendered to Dargoth long ago in exchange for personal gain. Many of the northerners call these people wimps or posers for succumbing to the corrupting influence of the Chaoslords, but in truth, these people are each granted great power to aid their dark masters, and the most powerful of them are more dangerous than any ordinary human could ever strive to become without superhuman aid. Valley of the Skeletons and Majesties Surrounded by mountains, the ground this valley is strewn with the bones of kings and peasants alike, for there was once a mountain-dwelling kingdom there. Its people all gave their lives but were no match for the armies of the Chaoslords and all as one were slaughtered. The deluge of souls that would journey to Nidergang in Einherjar never did so, but were instead trapped by a mighty spell which caused the souls to disperse into the ground, wiping away all life from the valley. The result was a new type of metal, imbued with the power of death: Mortstone. The quarries in the valley mine the metal for it to be refined and turned into arms and armour in the Mortsteel refineries, and then to be used by the elite forces of the Chaoslords. The Hall of the Nekrogoblikon In Shiras lies the Eastern Goblin Jungle, where the native Goblins use voodoo and shamanism for spiritual guidance. Bella Perpetuar used to hold the Western Goblin Forest, where a more pragmatic sort of Goblins dwelled. They were all enslaved by the Chaoslords, and their forest cut to fuel the war machine of entropy. All that remains of the Western Goblins' old existence is contained within the Nekrogoblikon, a dark tome attuned to Dargon, the Third Chaoslord. The swarms of Western Goblins, though a fraction of the race's former numbers, will defend this structure and the Nekrogoblikon to the death, while at the same time they are the primary workforce of the Chaoslords, performing most to all menial tasks that do not require special training or greater-than-human strength. The Metal Kingdoms The entropic incfluence of the Chaoslords has halted about halfway north in Bella Perpetuar. Further north le the Metal Kingdoms; nations built upon blood, glory, and honour. Where the two sides meet, a perpetual war rages and battles are fought daily, both sides hoping to break the stalemate and either liberate or enslave all of Bella Perpetuar. Once the Metal Kingdoms fought among themselves, but now they all stand united against the chaotic darkness. The kingdoms are each ruled by a house, a noble bloodline that has fought its way to the top and claimed domain over a number of other bloodlines, which make up the denizens of those kingdoms. DeMaio The DeMaio Kingdom is regarded by many as the greatest of the Metal Kingdoms, as the lands of the kingdom stretch far and wide, and their soldiers are among the most brutal of warriors. Staunch defenders of steel, the DeMaio house holds almost the entire eastern half of the front against the Chaoslords. Under their rule are many renowned bloodlines, such as the staunch Serimner, the tenacious Svartsol and the remnants of the glorious line of Arwald, the perhaps greatest Hero of old. House DeMaio keeps entire armies on a constant vigil, the so-called Brothers of Metal the most elite of these. Brothers of Metal are known to fight until the very end, and tales go of these men still swinging their swords even after losing limbs. Under them are the Legions of Doom, just as unbreakable and many times more numerous, though they have not yet earned the superhuman resilience of the Brothers of Metal. Brightblade The central front lies at the lands of House Brightblade, a house whose entire military revolves around the Knights of Yore; an ancient order built upon honour, chivalry, and noble sacrifice. Every order of the knighthood follows a codex laid by the founder of the Brightblade house himself: a selfless warrior who sacrificed himself to save the kingdom in the face of utter destruction, and many of his successors after him have done the same. Heavy infantry, clad in plated armour, the Knights of Yore hold fast against the daily poundings from the forces of the Chaoslord, and they do not falter in the face of the enemy, for they know their destiny is to give themselves in utmost sacrifice for the Brightblade Kingdom, and all the Metal Kingdoms with that. Hammerfall A relatively small kingdom, the House Hammerfall will use any means necessary to be the last men standing on the battlefield. They even employ legions of daemons, summoned by the sacred Templars of Steel, so smite the undead swarms that so relentlessly assail their kingdom. For the record, Daemons are not regarded as evil or even that bad in Bella Perpetuar, and they do not themselves represent anything but themselves. The daemons follow the Way of the Warrior, a destined path to cut through the forces of the Chaoslords and either prevail in final victory over Dargoth and win freedom in Ardalore, or be banished and then summoned anew for another try. It's complicated. Silverflame The entire peninsula on the wes coast of Bella Perpetuar is one great harbour, governed by a mysterious conclave, of which only a Duke Silverflame is publicly known. The harbour is one great industrial- and trade hub, protected by its massive navy. Silverflame as an official Metal Kingdom is not looked upon with equal eagerness by all of the 'true' Metal Kingdoms - especially the influential house DeMaio is opposed to the idea, but none can argue that the SIlverflame Ships are a great aide when a naval assault is called for, and they certainly do protect northern Bella Perpetuar from whatever the Chaoslords could plan on putting in the water to attack behind the front lines. Denim The house Denim is named after the way it rose to power - and a most unorthodox way that is - by inventing a sort of fabric that proved not only comfortable, but also seemed to protect the wearer better than any ordinary type of fabric. Thus, the uniform of many elite soldiers in Bella Perpetuar incorporate denim, and this has made the house Denim not only rich, but hugely influential. Their heavy cavalry division, nicknamed 'Ninety Tonnes of Thunder', are known far and wide as able to crush even lines of pikemen through the sheer, and honestly quite exessive, amount of armour worn by the cavalliers and their horses. This is made possible by the denim fabric, which is put in many layers within hardened steel armour, thus making the unit only moderately heavier than other heavy cavalry. Paolin Once, the skies of Bella Perpetuar were filled with majestic, flying beasts. From Gryphons and Hippogryphs, to Wyverns and Dragons, they roamed the lands, often ridden by men of great will who had earned these creatures' loyalty and friendship. Those days are long gone, wiht many of the beasts having been driven out or slaughtered by the Chaoslords' conquest of southern Bella Perpetuar. The house Paolin is the last to hold an order of Dragon Knights, and the entirety of the kingdom's structure revolves about preserving these mighty warriors and their mounts for battle against the entropic enemies in the south. Based upon a huge mountain, the kingdom is itself rather small, but houses a multitude of dragons and other, lesser creatures, all bred and cared for in the task of keeping the Dragon Knights a force to be reckoned with (and indeed they are!), and to preserve the kinds of dragons that, to the house Paolin's knowledge, are found only in the mountain. Those beasts that are deemed unable to survive the fires of war, or perhaps too feral-minded to allow a rider, are instead sent to the Game Array, a great arena run by a mysterious man called the Master of Confusion. There, the beasts will fulfill a perhaps sad, but nonetheless glorious role in battling the aspiring heroes of Bella Perpetuar, and either end those who cannot stand the draconic might, or be slain in the effort of the war against the Chaoslords.